Cucurbita maxima

Duchesne

Essai Hist. Nat. Courges, 7, 12. 1786.

Common names: Winter or Hubbard or blue Hubbard or golden Hubbard or turk’s turban or banana or Queensland blue or buttercup or Hokkaido squash winter marrow Queensland blue or Atlantic giant or mammoth pumpkin
Introduced
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 6. Treatment on page 56. Mentioned on page 49, 50, 57.

Peduncles in fruit terete, not prominently ribbed, expanded along whole length, not abruptly expanded at point of fruit attachment, relatively soft and corky-thickened. Flowers: hypanthium campanulate, 20–25 mm; sepals subulate to linear, 5–20 mm; corolla yellow to orange-yellow, campanulate, 5–7 (–8) cm; anther-filaments glabrous; ovary pubescent. Pepos green to gray-green with cream stripes or mottling, golden yellow to orange, dark purplish green or bluish, blackish purple, or white to grayish, globose to depressed-globose to ovoid or obovoid, oblong-cylindric, or flattened-cylindric, 10–40 cm, smooth, flesh yellow to orange, not bitter. Seeds whitish to gray or pale-brown, suborbiculate to broadly elliptic or obovate, 12–22 (–32) mm, margins raised-thickened or not, sometimes slightly darkened, surfaces smooth or slightly rough. 2n = 40.


Phenology: Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat: Abandoned agricultural fields, fields, roadsides, disturbed sites, trash heaps
Elevation: 50–200 m

Distribution

V6 92-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; Ark., Ga., Maine, Mass., Mich., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Utah, Vt., Va., Wis., West Indies, South America, also elsewhere in South America (Argentina), Europe (Denmark), Europe (England), Europe (Germany), Europe (Hungary), Europe (Spain), Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia

Discussion

Cucurbita andreana Naudin, a wild species native to Argentina and Bolivia, hybridizes readily with C. maxima and is its ancestor (O. I. Sanjur et al. 2002); it sometimes is recognized as C. maxima subsp. andreana (Naudin) Filov.

Some fruits of Cucurbita maxima have a high sugar content and are used for making pies, and they are popular as a soup, especially in Brazil and Africa.

All of the giant pumpkins in weigh-off contests are derived from Cucurbita maxima, as are some of the Halloween pumpkins. In 1904, the largest pumpkin was 403 pounds, and winners increased relatively little to 459 pounds in 1980. A rapid increase in size began in 1981, with the champion at 493.5 pounds; from this individual’s lineage came seeds for the Atlantic Giant cultivar, which has contributed since to winners burgeoning in size. The first giant pumpkin over 1000 pounds (1061 pounds) was grown in 1996; by 2009 the winner was 1725 pounds and in 2010, 1810 pounds.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"expanded" is not a number.

... more about "Cucurbita maxima"
distinct +  and connate +
Guy L. Nesom +
Duchesne +
2-lobed;unlobed;(3-)5(-7)-lobed;suborbiculate;broadly ovate ovatelanceolate reniform or triangular +
tubular +, saucer--shaped +, campanulate +  and rotate +
Winter or Hubbard or blue Hubbard or golden Hubbard or turk’s turban or banana or Queensland blue or buttercup or Hokkaido squash +, winter marrow +  and Queensland blue or Atlantic giant or mammoth pumpkin +
7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
yellow +  and orange-yellow +
campanulate +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
Ark. +, Ga. +, Maine +, Mass. +, Mich. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, S.C. +, Utah +, Vt. +, Va. +, Wis. +, West Indies +, South America +, also elsewhere in South America (Argentina) +, Europe (Denmark) +, Europe (England) +, Europe (Germany) +, Europe (Hungary) +, Europe (Spain) +, Pacific Islands (New Zealand) +  and Australia +
50–200 m +
furrowed +  and echinate +
dehiscent +  and indehiscent +
bristly +, smooth +, hairy +  and glabrous +
tuberculate +  and muricate +
fleshy +  and hard +
connate +  and distinct +
yellow +  and orange +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br />) +
staminate +, from different axils than staminate +  and pistillate +
cultivated +
stipitate;peltate +
Abandoned agricultural fields, fields, roadsides, disturbed sites, trash heaps +
perennial +
dioecious +  and monoecious +
campanulate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
umbellate;subumbellate +
solitary +, corymbose +, fasciculate +, racemose +  and paniculate +
petiolate +, estipulate +  and simple +
obovate;lanceolate oblanceolate oblong-lanceolate or subrhombic +
serrate +  and denticulate or mucronulate +
not +  and raised-thickened +
not +  and differentiated +
corky-thickened +
not bitter +
induplicate-valvate +  and imbricate +
9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
yellow;orange +
pubescent +  and puberulent +
broadly ovate;oblong-ovate oblongelliptic triangular triangular-ovate or lanceolate-ovate +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
Flowering Jun–Oct. +
Essai Hist. Nat. Courges, +
arillate +  and winged +
2.2 cm22 mm <br />0.022 m <br /> (3.2 cm32 mm <br />0.032 m <br />) +
whitish +  and gray or pale-brown +
suborbiculate +  and broadly elliptic or obovate +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (2.2 cm22 mm <br />0.022 m <br />) +
subulate;linear +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
Introduced +
climbing +  and procumbent +
sprawling +  and prostrate +
glandular +  and eglandular +
Cucurbita maxima +
Cucurbita +
species +
perennial +  and annual +
plant +, climbing +, procumbent +  and shrublike +